without pausing, placed a bug in . . . a sitting room . . . a bedroom . . . another bedroom . . . He marched downstairs, took a corner. People buzzed around in the kitchen, preparing the evening meal. He anchored another bug.
In a perfect world, he would find John locked in a room. Or down here, in a cell. And Solo would burst through the entrance to help him. Together, they would free John.
In a less-than-perfect world, Blue would find something to point him to their locations.
In a crappy shithole of a world, he would find nothing.
He was in a crappy shithole.
He’d been so hopeful. Frustration poked at his power, and that power expanded inside him until his skin felt taut, ready to rip apart at the seams.
Blue searched until he found Star’s office. The doors were closed and locked, and he would bet Star was inside, working. He could sneak inside and try to use voice compulsion, forcing Star to lead him out to safety and then to tell him everything he wanted to know. But there were two flaws in that plan. One, guards would come gunning for him and he couldn’t hold them all off at once without emptying himself. And if he emptied himself, he couldn’t carry Star away—or save John and Solo, if they were nearby. Two, half the population was immune to the compulsion. Star could be one of the immune.
“You’ve got two males coming in hot,” Evie announced.
Great.
“Marco,” a deep voice said.
Blue placed the last bug on the office door. No way could he get in without blowing his cover. He turned. As promised, two males were barreling toward him, both frowning.
“Marco. What are you doing down here?”
“I think you’re Marco,” Evie prompted.
Yeah. Probably. But Blue couldn’t say a single word to the guys—he wouldn’t have Marco’s voice. That meant he had to go with plan B.
He released a small ring of power. Not enough to render Blue completely useless afterward, but enough to weaken him as he disabled the guards. The two grunted and jerked before slumping to the floor.
He considered the consequences worth the reward.
“Nice,” Evie said, “but you better get out of there before they’re found and an alarm is tripped.”
Blue kicked into high gear—which wasn’t as high as it had been before—propelling outside. He raced across the lawn . . . no alarm . . . he climbed the iron gate . . . no alarm . . .
He jumped into his waiting car and sped down the street, constantly glancing at the rearview mirror to see if he was being followed.
“How long before you’re back at the boathouse?” Evie asked.
He thought he heard the words she didn’t say:
“Missing me already, princess? How sweet.”
“Blue! I’m being serious.”
How adorable was the pout in her voice?
And it was only getting worse.
“I’ll be there first thing in the morning,” he said, more sharply than he’d intended.
“Morning? Tell me you’re kidding.” The pout was replaced by a growl. “I have no intention of taking the evening off. I need to pay a visit to AIR headquarters to discuss the car chase and pump Agent Gutierrez for information.”
The words
“Yeah, but if I take it, I’ll leave him stranded.”
“I seriously doubt that. He’s a plan B, C, and D man. Take the boat.”
She sighed. “You’re right.”
“Aren’t I always?”
“Ha, ha.”
“So listen. Tonight I have to rise from the dead. I’ll sneak over to your house as soon as it’s done.”
A sharp intake of breath. “So . . . you’re ending things with Pagan?”
“Yes. It’ll be done by midnight.”
Utter silence.
Man, he wished he could read Evie better, but when she wanted to be, she was a master at disguising her reactions. And without her nearby, he couldn’t sense her emotions.
Funny, but the empathic ability he’d once despised was now one of his most beloved and well used.
“Just so you know,” he added, “I’m not going to sleep with her.” He didn’t owe Evie the assurance; they weren’t dating and had made no promises to each other—and, damn it all, they couldn’t be together.
None of that stopped him, however.
“I didn’t ask, did I?” There was no emotion in her tone. “Besides, sleeping with her before and/or after you’ve broken her heart would be a total douche move.”
His jaw clenched. “Look, until you, I always told her before I was going to do something with someone else. Not why, just that it was going to happen. She never minded, and that’s part of the reason I stayed with her. If it weren’t for the job, I would have been faithful. I
Again silence.
He wanted her to see him, the real him, he realized. And he wanted her to tell him she thought better of him. Even though he sometimes didn’t think better of himself.
“Do you know what it’s like to seduce someone you’re not attracted to?” he gritted. “Or worse, someone you despise? Do you know what it’s like to hear their cries of pleasure and wish you were hearing cries of pain? Do you know how dirty something like that can make a person feel?
“No,” she whispered.
“Do you know what it’s like to have sex with someone you know you’re going to have to kill? Or to know just how badly your actions are going to hurt someone you care about?”
“Blue—”
“Would you mind if I
Another sharp intake of breath. Then, very softly, she said, “Yes. I would mind. Just . . . try to end it by eleven, yeah. I’ll be waiting for you.”
What did that mean?
He knew what he wanted it to mean. Because as much as he wanted blood, he still wanted
“I’ll hurry,” he said.
The piece in his ear shut off, spilling static.
Blue called Pagan from the road and told her he would come by her place around ten for a chat-up, as Evie would say, then hung up when she rapid-fired questions at him.
Non-man-whore move: he wasn’t going to destroy her dreams and aspirations over the phone.
Besides, there was nothing he could tell her that would make her feel better about what was about to happen.
He stopped at Evie’s safe house to grab the laptop and Lucky Horn flash drive, then went home to get his favorite SUV and let his neighbors know he was back in business.
Finally the moment of truth arrived.
He checked the perimeter of Pagan’s house for any surveillance equipment—found none—and made his way to the door. She answered before he had a chance to knock, and a hard fist of guilt pummeled him. She wore a slinky red dress that hugged her voluminous curves, and her blond hair framed her perfectly made-up face. She’d
